Sohail Shalian, a 21-year-old former Border Guard officer from the Galilee town of Kafr Qana, was convicted of manslaughter and reckless endangerment on Monday, after accidentally shooting one of his friends to death.
According to the case file, in September of 2007 Shalian wished to impress one of his friends with his service-issue M-16 rifle. He aimed the loaded rifle and at fired, jokingly asked him where he would like to be shot, and pulled the trigger.
The State argued that Shalian should be tried for manslaughter, but his advocate, Attorney Samuel Barzani, claimed the accidental nature of the act warrants no more than an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Shalian, argued Barzani, did not remember the weapon was loaded – a fact he maintained from the very beginning of the investigation.
Nazareth District Court Judge Yitzhak Cohen chose to accept the State's stance, saying that Border Guard officers are expected to know just how dangerous their weapons are.
"The defendant knew that he was holding a weapon intended to kill, when he was playfully mimicking the actions required to fire it," said judge Cohen in his ruling. Shalian's sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
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